INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Although the Indiana Pacers are trying
to rebuild, they still have veteran leadership in Jalen Rose and
Reggie Miller.

Rose scored 14 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter and Miller
finally found his stroke down the stretch as the Pacers rallied
for their third straight victory, 84-76 over the Atlanta Hawks.

"We're excited about winning three in a row, something that we
can be proud of," Rose said. "A lot of times you don't enjoy
the small victories. You gotta enjoy the small victories to
create the huge splash."

Rose scored the first four points in a 9-0 burst that gave the
Pacers the lead for good early in the fourth quarter. He added
three big baskets after the Hawks had crept within one point
with five minutes to play.

"It's about being patient and trying to find my points to
exploit it," Rose said. "My teammates did a great job of
getting me the ball in position to score the ball. The second
half was when I was really trying to be aggressive because I saw
that we were struggling."

Miller, one of the best shooters in the NBA, struggled all game,
making just 5-of-19 from the field. But he also hit a pair of
big jumpers in the final minutes to hold off a late rally by the
Hawks.

"We had struggled earlier," Miller said. "We knew we had
smaller guys on me and Jalen did a good job of using his size
against their smaller guards."

Miller scored 15 points and Jermaine O'Neal collected 12 and 10
rebounds before being ejected for the Pacers, who have put
together their longest winning streak since a five-game run from
November 4-15.

Rose and Miller are the prominent holdovers from last season's
squad, which reached the NBA Finals but underwent a dramatic
overhaul during the offseason. With a handful of inexperienced
players, Indiana relies heavily on its two stars.

"You win with vets in this league," Rose said. "A lot of people
talk about killer crossovers and behind-the-back moves but you
win with experience and know-how in this league and fortunately
we had enough of that tonight."

Atlanta has no such luxury. The Hawks also are rebuilding but
their lone veteran star is center Dikembe Mutombo, a defensive
player who has been rumored to be on the trading block.

"We had the game in our hands but in the (fourth) quarter we
broke down defensively and let it slip away," Mutombo said. "A
very frustrating loss for us."

Lorenzen Wright had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Terry scored
17 points for the Hawks, who continue to battle. They are 10-8
since a 4-16 start.

A jumper by Brevin Knight gave Atlanta a 61-56 lead with 11:05
to play before Rose had two free throws and a jumper. O'Neal's
dunk gave Indiana the lead for good and a 3-pointer by Sam
Perkins made it 65-61 with 7:40 remaining.

Two free throws by Terry cut the deficit to 69-68 with 5:13 to
go before Rose emerged again. He scored inside and hit a jumper
to rebuild the lead to 73-68 with 3:59 left.

On the play, O'Neal elbowed Wright underneath and was ejected.
Wright received two free throws but missed both and Atlanta did
not score on the ensuing possession.

"The particular ref who threw me out of the game (David Jones),
I was kind of talking the whole game and that was his way of
getting back at me," O'Neal said. "If you look at the tape,
he's got me around my neck so I'm trying to protect myself and
get free."

Miller made the Hawks pay with a 3-pointer for a 76-68 lead with
3:29 to play.

After jumpers by Terry and Roshown McLeod halved the deficit,
Rose hit a tough turnaround jumper from the right baseline and
Miller sank a short jumper to seal it at 80-72 with 57 seconds
left.

Reserve forward Al Harrington had 10 points and 13 boards for
the Pacers, who shot 41 percent (29-of-71) and held a 53-45 edge
on the glass. Harrington has two career double-doubles, both in
the last two games.

Mutombo had 14 points and 15 boards and McLeod scored 14 points
for the Hawks, who shot 37 percent (32-of-86) and were outscored
24-12 at the line.

The teams combined to shoot 2-of-18 from the arc. Atlanta's
bench was outscored, 23-6, and outrebounded, 24-7.